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Sunday, February 12, 2017

SAFE & FREE APPS TO USE ON YOUR BROWSERS

Most of the apps we run on our various browsers seems
to be slowing us down while using them. This is because web apps have grown
more powerful than we know or realize.

Applications like Photoshop and iTunes still work best
as standalone applications but if you are looking to do some lightweight word
processing, image editing, or tune playing, web apps can help.

Here are the best ones you can use for free.

GOOGLE
DRIVE

Once upon a time, having apps that ran on the web
seemed like a barmy idea, but Google saw the potential - the online word
processor, spreadsheet application and presentation tool that make up Google
Drive are all slick, packed with features, and of course accessible anywhere
you can get to a web browser.

These web-based programs still lack some of the most
advanced features of the desktop equivalents, but they are more than good
enough for the majority of users, and as an advantage, your work is constantly
saved and backed up.

MICROSOFT
OFFICE

Not to be outdone, Microsoft now offers lightweight,
web-based versions of its core Office products - Word, Excel and PowerPoint -
which you can use without having to fork out for the full desktop versions of
the products.

One of the key advantages here is that millions of
people are already using the standard Office file formats, so you can quickly
create files that can be opened up on most other systems, as well as being able
to get at documents, spreadsheets and presentations sent to you by others, even
if you do not have Microsoft Office installed.

SPOTIFY

While you really need a premium account to make the
most of Spotify, non-paying users can access the web interface too, so you can
enjoy some tunes on your laptop even if you do not have one of the desktop
clients installed.

The interface is a bit slower and a bit simpler than
the main Spotify apps, but all the key functions you need are here - options to
build playlists, control volume and playback, a portal for discovering new
music, and more. You can stream tracks to other Spotify-connected devices from
the web too.

GOOGLE
PLAY MUSIC

You would expect Google to be good in the web apps
department, which might be why it featured three times in this list. You can
use Google Play Music free and upload 50,000 of your own tracks - tracks that
can then be streamed to any of your devices.

On top of that, you can opt to pay a monthly
subscription fee, Spotify-style, and get access to millions more songs as long
as you keep paying. As with Spotify, Google Play Music lets you sync tracks to
your devices for offline listening, and there is the option to buy music
permanently if you want to download and keep it forever.If you are looking for graphics or illustrations then
Canva has you sorted - the only time you need to pay is if you want to use one
of the stock photos provided in the templates, but swapping them out for images
you have sourced yourself.

Whether you need an image for a Facebook post or an A4
flyer, Canva can help, and as well as the web interface, there are some rather
nifty mobile apps to check out as well. What also stands out about Canva is the
ease of use of the interface - just about anyone can dive right in and start
designing with this.

PIXIR

It's fair to say you can't yet get Photoshop in your
web browser, but Pixlr comes pretty close and won't cost you a penny - it's
even better than Adobe's own web apps, and has more than enough features for
the majority of users.

Whether you just want to apply some Instagram-style
filters or you need to get creative with layers and selections, Pixlr can help.
There are some adverts to put up with but they're not particularly intrusive,
and you get a very handy image editor running in your web browser in return.

EVERNOTE

Evernote is available as a desktop app and on mobile,
but it lives on the web as well for the ultimate in portable note taking. If
you've never used Evernote before, it's a freeform app for collecting text,
images, links and anything else you need to keep track of.

Part of the appeal of the app is its flexibility, and
you can use it to do pretty much anything you like - and of course as its web
based, you can get at your stuff from anywhere. All the basics are included for
free, and if you need more functionality (like annotations and searching inside
documents), premium accounts are available.

YOUTUBE
VIDEO EDITOR

A final entry for Google, which owns YouTube - this
isn't the only online video editor out there, but it's one of the most
intuitive and straightforward, and considering your clips will probably end up
on YouTube anyway it seems an obvious one to recommend.

You may have never noticed the online editor built into
YouTube, but you can enhance your movies, add titles and effects, and even drop
in some (copyright-free) background music for that finishing touch. It's a lot
of fun to play around with in your browser and pretty much anyone can have a
go.

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